One
might think of heralds these days as people who wander around on ceremonial
occasions in strange costumes and who have a detailed knowledge of very
intricate aspects of visual depiction. Around the time of the Hundred
Years' War, they had a more lively role. On good days they got to officiate
at tournaments, those supposedly chivalric but very rough medieval sports
being occasions for great displays of personal heraldic devices, and possibly
one of the reasons that these developed in complexity.

A
depiction of the famous tournament at St Inglevere, where the French knights
supposedly held the lists for thirty days against the English, after a
miniature in a manuscript of Froissart's chronicles in the British Library.

The
above copy of a miniature
gives something of the colour and light and movement of a tournament,
conducted during a truce in the Hundred Years' War. They couldn't bear
to actually stop fighting. The display of heraldry appears on the costumes
of the knights, their horse accoutrements and on the banners and shields
hanging all around the place. Very jolly stuff.

On
bad days they had more alarming duties. During battles they acted as messengers.
They had to stroll into the heart of the enemy camps to deliver their
messages. The rules said they were not to be harmed, and they were supposed
be unarmed, and to do no sneaky peeking at what the enemy was up to. Naturally,
they had to be very readily recognised so that no nasty accidents would
ensue, so they wore loud, garish tabards decorated with the arms of their
king or lord, in the hope that nobody would shoot them before they realised
who they were. Other fun jobs on the battle field included keeping a record
of the knightly dead and triumphally waving captured banners.

Charles
VI meets some armed Parisians. His heralds are with him on the right of
the picture. After a Froissart manuscript (Bibliothèque nationale
ms 2644).

It
must have been on really quiet days that they got to formulate the rules
and vocabulary of heraldry, and to ensure that arms being borne by individuals
were legitimate. By the late 13th century, there were two kings of arms
with jurisdiction over the north and south of England. In 1415 King Henry
V created the Order of the Garter, and Garter, King of Arms became the
principal of the heralds. By this time heraldry was a literate industry
with its own apprentices, called Poursuivants, recording all matters to
do with heraldry. A College of Arms, with its own charter,
was not founded until 1484 by King Richard III, who, as we all know, lost
his horse, his throne and his life at the battle of Bosworth Field, resulting
in the end of the middle ages in England.

Strange
to tell, not all medieval institutions died with the arrival of the Tudors.
The College of Arms was refounded in 1555 in the reign of Queen Mary and
powers on to this day, its quaint vocabulary and rituals still relevant
to some corner of our modern minds. In the 16th century, the heralds carried
out visitations around England and Wales to check on the legitimacy of
those bearing arms and to record the armorial designs. Such records survive
in the College of Arms and the British Library.

Coats
of arms were not only useful for knowing who was being biffed by whom
in battle or at play, they were used in the process of manuscript
making to validate documents by seal.
Interestingly, the earliest royal or knightly seals did not bear coats
of arms. The image of the monarch seated in majesty or, as also with the
aristocracy, mounted on a horse, was identified by the legend, or inscription,
around the seal rather than by heraldic devices.

Obverse
of the seal of William the Conqueror.

The
earliest knightly equestrian seal which shows evidence of a coat of arms
dates from the 12th century, when we know these things were being adopted
and codified. However, the general rule at this time was that an anonymous
knight sat on his horse and was identified by the inscription surrounding
him. It does suggest that the belligerent use of arms predates its more
civilised judicial use.

12th
century equestrian seal of Ralph de Cuningburgh (British Library, add. charter
70691). By permission of the British Library.

It
seems to have been the lesser knights and gentry who, not qualifying for
the equestrian seal, used various visual devices on their seals. Sometimes
these later became part of a formal coat of arms. Meanwhile, the senior
aristocracy began adding their coats of arms to their seals, with some
of the designs becoming very elaborate in, you guessed it, the 14th century.

This
rather stunning late 13th century seal has a clear and simple depiction
of the owner's arms on his shield as well as on his horse trappings. The
rider wears a hefty tilting helm with an elaborate crest, elements which
were also included in later medieval armorials.

Seal
of Alexander de Balliol of 1292.

Eventually,
some seals bore very elaborate heraldic designs incorporating all the
elements of the full achievement of arms. This example has shield, helm
with crest and mantling and two lion supporters. As the seals are attached
to handwritten documents, they become manuscript evidence themselves for
the development and diversity of heraldry.

15th
century seal of Edmund de Mortimer, Earl of March.

More
information about the use of heraldic devices on seals can be found in
the Seals section of this web
site.

By the later 15th and 16th centuries, the bearing of arms was no longer tied to feudal obligation to the king, but to more modern concepts of social worth. In an increasingly mercantile age, being filthy stinking rich was a reasonable criterion, as was the holding of important offices in the city, like Lord Mayor of London. Arms were also granted to corporate bodies such as university colleges and guilds, indicating their significance in the new social order.

Grant of arms to the Salters' Company of London made in 1530 (College of Arms MS L6, f.17).

Note that the design of the arms has become pictorial rather than abstract or purely symbolic. The elegant salt pots with salt streaming out of them do look a little cartoonish. I guess there are only so many things you can do with stripes, crosses, wiggles and imaginary animals.

However,
as with so many things in the medieval era, much is actually expressed in other
visual media. If we can read things other than documents, we can learn so much
more.

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are looking at this page without frames, there is more information about
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This
site is created and maintained by Dr
Dianne Tillotson, freelance researcher and compulsive multimedia and
web author. Comments are welcome. Material on this web site is copyright,
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page last modified 21/6/2011.